Li Yanchu looked off into the distance, and with his Qi Sight he quickly detected a surge of malevolent qi. It was coming from an estate in the southern quarter of the city. Above the gate hung a plaque that read “Liu Residence,” and two imposing stone lions flanked the entrance. Li Yanchu’s brows knitted. Without the slightest hesitation, he vaulted over the wall and slipped inside. In the rear quarters! The instant the thought surfaced, his figure vanished into the night. The rear compound was normally reserved for the household’s women. Inside one of the rooms, the eldest young master of the Liu family lay in a pool of blood, pinned beneath a very strange child. The “child” looked like a warped, broken rag doll, its body covered in crude stitching. Its skin was corpse-blue, its belly grotesquely swollen, while its limbs were thin and spindly. In one hand it gripped a gleaming short knife; with the other it pried open the young master’s mouth and slid the saber inside. Suddenly, it jerked its head up. Across the room, Lady Liu huddled in a corner while clutching her newborn, shaking uncontrollably. Meanwhile, the doll-child bared its teeth at her in a grin. Its mouth split wide open, fresh blood running down its cheeks. It was indescribably eerie and unspeakably evil. Seeing this, Lady Liu’s hands and feet went ice-cold. It felt as though an invisible force had nailed her to the spot; she couldn’t make a sound. She stared in hopeless terror at the slit-mouthed child that had appeared out of nowhere. Just as the creature was about to slash down with the knife with a cruel, feral smile on its face... The solid wooden door instantly shattered into splinters, blasting apart in all directions! A figure burst into the room, radiating searing hot blood and qi like a blazing furnace come to life. The oppressive force that had filled the room was instantly broken! “Freeze!” Li Yanchu barked coldly. He unleashed the Immobilization Spell. The grotesque, twisted, demonic slit-mouthed child suddenly froze in place and was completely unable to move! A flicker of shock and vicious fear appeared in its eyes. Li Yanchu’s gaze turned icy as he looked at the child. A wave of dominating, blazing yang qi swept across with just his glance. With this, blood tears began to stream from the creature’s eyes. In an instant, its already horrifying face contorted even further, becoming downright nightmare-inducing. Five-Lightning Pure Yang was the True Law of Heaven and Earth. No evil spirit or demonic entity dared meet its gaze! And yet, this one had no choice as it had been frozen by Li Yanchu’s divine technique. It had to look. In that moment, it suffered a grievous internal blow. “An infant spirit? Damn, that’s one hell of an ugly thing!” Li Yanchu sneered coldly. Hearing such a heart-piercing insult, the grotesque and demonic slit-mouthed child was instantly enraged beyond reason. An infant spirit was an extremely sinister entity, crafted from stillborns or dead infants through black rituals. And this one was especially vile, as it looked like even more venomous soul-forging techniques had been added on top. The resentment radiating from its body was unbearably intense, and it was growing rapidly. Sooner or later, it would become a major disaster! Unfortunately for it, it had run into Li Yanchu. Even in a state of blind rage, it still couldn’t break free from his Immobilization Spell! Li Yanchu spread his five fingers wide, and a surge of powerful force erupted from his palm. The infant spirit’s body was suddenly yanked toward him! With a single palm strike, Li Yanchu shattered the demonic infant spirit, utterly annihilating its soul. Soon after, a dense plume of black energy appeared in his hand. Art of Pursuit! For original chapters go to novel⦿fire.net Li Yanchu carefully attuned his senses to it and instantly locked onto the aura of the evil cultivator who had refined the infant spirit. “He’s not seriously injured. Call someone to tend to him.” Just one glance told Li Yanchu the Liu family’s young master had only sustained superficial wounds. Though he’d lost quite a bit of blood, his life wasn’t in danger. In the next moment, Li Yanchu’s figure vanished from the Liu residence’s rear quarters. Lady Liu, still shaken and pale, remained frozen for a long while. Then she let out a wail and threw herself over her husband! Inside a gloomy, ancient temple outside Wei City, a scholarly-looking man and a graceful young woman stepped inside to take shelter from the rain. Their clothing was soaked through. Especially the woman, her wet garments clung to her body, outlining her alluring figure. It stirred the imagination, making it nearly impossible to stay composed. Inside the ancient temple, there were already three men. They were all dressed like traveling merchants, sitting around a fire and drinking to keep warm. When they saw the two newcomers, especially the woman, all three turned their gazes toward them at once. The woman was delicate and beautiful, with a refined, elegant demeanor. And in this remote, desolate mountain area, with her soaked and disheveled clothes, she was all the more likely to stir up lustful thoughts. One of the younger merchants couldn’t help but swallow hard and fixed his eyes on her, utterly dazed. “I am Shen Liang. We're just passing through and hope to borrow your shelter from the rain. Would you mind sharing your fire so we may dry our clothes?” Shen Liang cupped his fists toward the three men as he spoke. The leader of the merchants, a weathered, black-faced man in his forties, tossed over a wine pouch without hesitation. “Be my guest. We're all travelers out here, no need to stand on ceremony, brother. Have a drink to warm up.” Shen Liang caught the wine pouch and thanked them once again. He led the lovely young woman over to sit by the fire. “Miss Wen, I didn’t take good care of you, and now you’ve caught a chill,” Shen Liang said apologetically. Miss Wen gently shook her head and replied in a soft, tender voice, “If it weren’t for you tonight, Young Master Shen, I’d have been stranded in the mountains.” Her voice was sweet and delicate, brimming with a fragile grace. Hearing this, Shen Liang immediately fell into a daze, and joy lit up his expression. He was a scholar traveling through these remote mountains on his way to the capital for the imperial exam. He never imagined he would run into such a beautiful, helpless young woman. After a few questions, he learned that her surname was Wen, and she was the daughter of a prominent family from a nearby county. While traveling, she had been attacked by mountain bandits, and her parents and all their servants were slaughtered. She escaped while the bandits slept and lost her way in the wilderness, and then she got caught in this downpour. It was precisely a time when she was alone and helpless. And it was at this very moment that the two had met. Shen Liang, seeing how lovely Miss Wen was, couldn’t help but feel a surge of sympathy. He had a deep pity for this wealthy young lady with such a tragic past. By chance, they had stumbled upon this ruined temple in the wilderness, and he led Miss Wen inside to take shelter. Gathered around the fire, the group gradually grew more familiar with each other. Only then did Shen Liang learn that the three men were traveling merchants dealing in medicinal herbs. The leader was a man in his forties named Boss Yang, and the two younger ones were his nephews, Yang Wen and Yang Wu. They accompanied him in his trade, traveling far and wide. After hearing Shen Liang and Miss Wen’s story, Yang Wen and Yang Wu were visibly moved. Seeing Miss Wen curled up by the fire with her face all pale and fragile, they felt an overwhelming sense of pity and couldn't help but fawn over her with concern. Only the older, dark-faced Boss Yang remained unaffected, his eyes sharp and clear. “You two, come with me. I just remembered that there’s a certain herb in this mountain that’s extremely sensitive to rain. If it gets soaked overnight, it’ll lose all its medicinal properties. We’ll go harvest it now, then come back to wait out the rain,” Boss Yang said in a low voice and moved to get up. “Uncle, what kind of herb’s that delicate? It’s pouring out there! Going now’s just asking for trouble,” Yang Wen complained. He was clearly reluctant to move. His gaze instead remained fixed on Miss Wen, who sat demurely by the fire, her soaked clothes clinging to her graceful form. “Yeah, Uncle, let’s wait until the rain eases a bit. No sense catching cold from a mountain storm,” Yang Wu chimed in from the side.